Roast Salmon Steaks with Pinot Noir Syrup
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 cups Pinot Noir
- 1 sprig rosemary, plus 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
- 4 salmon steaks, each about ½ pound
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions:
This mysterious, dark, extraordinarily delicious sauce is a kind of gastrique, a relatively simple sauce that is based on caramelized sugar.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Put the sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan, preferably nonstick and with rounded sides, and turn the heat to medium. Cook, without stirring (just shake the pan occasionally to redistribute the sugar) until the sugar liquefies and begins to turn brown, about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, stand back, and carefully add the wine. Turn the heat to high and cook, stirring, until the caramel dissolves again. Then add the rosemary sprig and reduce over high heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture is syrupy and reduced to just over ½ cup, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Heat a nonstick skillet over high heat until it begins to smoke. Season the salmon on both sides with salt and pepper, then put it in the pan; immediately put the pan in the oven. Roast for 3 minutes, then turn the salmon and roast for another 3 minutes. Check to see that the salmon is medium rare or thereabouts (it should be still orange in the center), remove it from the oven, and keep it warm, or cook for another 1 to 2 minutes if you like.
- When the sauce is reduced, stir in the balsamic vinegar and butter and turn the heat to medium low. Cook until the butter melts. Add salt and pepper, and remove the rosemary sprig. Taste and adjust seasoning, then serve over the fish. Garnish with the chopped rosemary.